Problems in Digital Enterprise Management (DEM) Research by Ahmed Waqar (993397114) Background
To truly understand what are some issues with DEM, it is necessary to first understand the objectives of the course as outlined on the CCIT website.
“Prepare for management roles in the digital age by developing a working knowledge of emerging technologies. Digital Enterprise Management (DEM) is a Specialist Program offered through Communications, Culture and Information Technology. Studies in DEM focus on the technologies comprising the Internet and the Web, which are transforming existing companies and providing fertile ground for the creation of new digital enterprises. Experts agree that such enterprises must be managed in fundamentally different ways from their industrial age precursors. This program explores this new managerial environment. Students will gain an understanding of the technologies that underlie digital businesses and the managerial challenges and techniques appropriate for being active and valuable participants in digital enterprises.”1
The words management and technology are everywhere in that official description, but does the program live up to its design? This report will outline some of the key issues in the program and provide some potential solutions to the current problems.
Introduction/Stakeholders
This topic is particularly important because the ramifications of the success or failure of this program affect not only the students but the faculty and the University of Toronto Mississauga. All too often, these entities do not work cohesively because each blames the other for any mistake. Students blame the University/Faculty for not branding the program or providing better courses. Faculty counter that first students request more skill specialization courses and at the same time, request more flexibility (basically students ask for 2 opposing things). While efforts exist to bridge this gap, time is not on our side. With an ailing economy, graduating students need this program to be successful else they would have wasted the last 4-5 years. If this program fails, the degree for what it’s worth becomes worthless (to some extent). The objective of this report is to create interest and awareness of the problems facing DEM students and the program as a whole.
Key Issues
Branding
The largest issue facing the course as more graduates will begin to enter the corporate world, the need for branding has never been stronger. To understand the severity of the branding issue, you simply have to go to Research In Motions’ website and apply for any job. When you are asked what degree you received at your University, neither DEM or CCIT show up on the list of courses. How can someone with a DEM degree accurately apply for a job, when in the screening process he/she can not accurately enter their degree name?
Currently, the only ambassadors of the program are the students and Alumni. There is no work being done to target High School students that will be entering University. These students are a key source of branding. Simply put, imagine 100 to 200 students with a DEM degree applying for jobs. Now imagine 1000 to 2000 people with a DEM degree. I would say that most employers would quickly learn what DEM is all about and getting jobs would be one step easier (this does not mean that the program accept every “Joe the Plumber” who walks in).
Program Direction
DEM as a program does (many believe it does not) have suggested course guidelines. The problem is these guidelines are really good for the first two years. The last two years have a huge variety of options and some of the options are pointless. Why does a DEM student have the option to take a course on how humans hear and see? Unlike older programs such as Management or commerce, DEM students could potentially get a degree in DEM without any real knowledge of Management. This is extremely troubling considering, as outlined in the introduction, the main focus of this program is to create Managers in a Digital Environment.
Course Quality
A key issue raised is the quality of some courses. There is a technological gap between what is taught and what is actually used in the market. For example, most companies use some form of PM (Project Management) software such as MS Project. Our of all the DEM courses related to Management, none teach MS Project or any current PM software.
Standards in grading work and quality of assignments are issues that students have voiced publicly in various classes. The validity of this cannot be confirmed but it is not entirely out of the realm of possible. Anyone who peruses this topic can research and see if this truly is an issue and address it accordingly.
Current Students
From a completely subjective approach, it must be noted that students also contribute to all of the issues mentioned above. This makes students one of the biggest issues. Student involvement, initiative and spirit are greatly lacking. There is a lack of community amongst DEM students and everyone, for a big part, act as if everything is about them. Some students ask for more variety in courses but at the exact same time demand structure. It is not possible for anyone to look both right and left at the same.
Some Solutions
There is no one perfect solution to this problem, and in fact, it will probably take many different solutions from different angles to fix all the issues facing DEM. In regards to Course Quality and Program Direction, the administration needs to look at all the current courses offered for DEM students and analysis which courses actually meet the objective of the program. If the study finds that the courses currently focus heavily on the technology side of things and not the management, than appropriate steps can be taken to offer more management courses (courses such as Advanced Project Management would be a good one). Students should also get involved and someone should do a study on the current market demands for Managers in the IT field. What specific skills are companies looking for? Are there certain technologies that companies consider an asset for graduates to have? These things can help guide the Administration to make accurate decisions on which courses need to be added to the program.
In regards to Current Students, Administration needs to somehow build a community amongst students. For example, in McMaster, in the last year of the Engineering Program students all work on a project together. Last year it was a large picture of Mario made out of Lego pieces and done in one night. There were over 55 students who worked on this and the picture spanned roughly 10ft by 20ft. While this same method does not need to be used for DEM, the idea and logic behind it are sound and can be applied in the case of DEM.
The biggest issue facing all graduates and future graduates of the program is Branding. Students need to become ambassadors of the program and make everyone in the public aware of what the program is about. Once students take an interest and start promoting this program on corporate blogs and with friends and family, the name Digital Enterprise Management will spread like wildfire amongst the corporate world. The administration must send either alumni or current students to High Schools across the GTA and promote this program. If the best and brightest minds enter the DEM program and graduate, that will only help strengthen the branding of the program. Letters to Fortune 500 companies HR departments about the program will also help. As found in my own attempt at looking for work, many HR departments of companies do not have DEM listed as a program offered at UTM. This is a time consuming process but one that the administration must tackle head on to ensure that graduate students can enter any company without having to spend majority of the interview explaining what DEM is all about.
Note
All the research used for this assignment was gathered by me through my years in the program. I have done a lot of work in regards to this and used that material to form this paper.
Problems in Digital Enterprise Management (DEM)
Research by Ahmed Waqar (993397114)
Background
To truly understand what are some issues with DEM, it is necessary to first understand the objectives of the course as outlined on the CCIT website.
“Prepare for management roles in the digital age by developing a working knowledge of emerging technologies. Digital Enterprise Management (DEM) is a Specialist Program offered through Communications, Culture and Information Technology. Studies in DEM focus on the technologies comprising the Internet and the Web, which are transforming existing companies and providing fertile ground for the creation of new digital enterprises. Experts agree that such enterprises must be managed in fundamentally different ways from their industrial age precursors. This program explores this new managerial environment. Students will gain an understanding of the technologies that underlie digital businesses and the managerial challenges and techniques appropriate for being active and valuable participants in digital enterprises.”1
The words management and technology are everywhere in that official description, but does the program live up to its design? This report will outline some of the key issues in the program and provide some potential solutions to the current problems.
Introduction/Stakeholders
This topic is particularly important because the ramifications of the success or failure of this program affect not only the students but the faculty and the University of Toronto Mississauga. All too often, these entities do not work cohesively because each blames the other for any mistake. Students blame the University/Faculty for not branding the program or providing better courses. Faculty counter that first students request more skill specialization courses and at the same time, request more flexibility (basically students ask for 2 opposing things). While efforts exist to bridge this gap, time is not on our side. With an ailing economy, graduating students need this program to be successful else they would have wasted the last 4-5 years. If this program fails, the degree for what it’s worth becomes worthless (to some extent). The objective of this report is to create interest and awareness of the problems facing DEM students and the program as a whole.
Key Issues
Some Solutions
There is no one perfect solution to this problem, and in fact, it will probably take many different solutions from different angles to fix all the issues facing DEM. In regards to Course Quality and Program Direction, the administration needs to look at all the current courses offered for DEM students and analysis which courses actually meet the objective of the program. If the study finds that the courses currently focus heavily on the technology side of things and not the management, than appropriate steps can be taken to offer more management courses (courses such as Advanced Project Management would be a good one). Students should also get involved and someone should do a study on the current market demands for Managers in the IT field. What specific skills are companies looking for? Are there certain technologies that companies consider an asset for graduates to have? These things can help guide the Administration to make accurate decisions on which courses need to be added to the program.
In regards to Current Students, Administration needs to somehow build a community amongst students. For example, in McMaster, in the last year of the Engineering Program students all work on a project together. Last year it was a large picture of Mario made out of Lego pieces and done in one night. There were over 55 students who worked on this and the picture spanned roughly 10ft by 20ft. While this same method does not need to be used for DEM, the idea and logic behind it are sound and can be applied in the case of DEM.
The biggest issue facing all graduates and future graduates of the program is Branding. Students need to become ambassadors of the program and make everyone in the public aware of what the program is about. Once students take an interest and start promoting this program on corporate blogs and with friends and family, the name Digital Enterprise Management will spread like wildfire amongst the corporate world. The administration must send either alumni or current students to High Schools across the GTA and promote this program. If the best and brightest minds enter the DEM program and graduate, that will only help strengthen the branding of the program. Letters to Fortune 500 companies HR departments about the program will also help. As found in my own attempt at looking for work, many HR departments of companies do not have DEM listed as a program offered at UTM. This is a time consuming process but one that the administration must tackle head on to ensure that graduate students can enter any company without having to spend majority of the interview explaining what DEM is all about.
Note
All the research used for this assignment was gathered by me through my years in the program. I have done a lot of work in regards to this and used that material to form this paper.
References